A Fine Day in Hell - Maax Recalls His Final Days
by Desiree S. Roberts
Summary: The movie 'The Beastmaster' as retold through the eyes of it's primary villian, Maax.


The Tale of Maax

_(This is a continuation of a previous story __ post/93915054578/all-tales-start-beneath-hell__)_

"I was born in the city of Aruk, under the sign of Ar during the third moon to a witch mother. My father was never made known to me, nor was his existence of importance other than to sow the seeds of what would become my life.  
"I was despised by my peers, and abhorred by mine enemies. I devoted my young life to the study of Ar and the black arts. My efforts were quickly rewarded as I became the youngest High Priest ever, to serve Ar.  
"A prophecy was proclaimed on the day I became High Priest of Ar. That I would spread the name of Ar throughout the land, live a lengthened life and die gloriously. That my story would be told for generations to come and inspire thousands, yea, near millions of fanatics, if I served diligently.  
In those first few years, destiny approached steadily. The followers of Ar multiplied, shaven headed disciples filled the streets, and the gospel of Ar was heard. In addition, plumbing was installed in the temple of Ar, which also served as the king's headquarters.  
"However, despite my efforts to appease the appetite of Ar, Zed, the simple minded king of Aruk, insisted on control and expansion. His demands were insane and impractical for the people of Aruk and went against the declarations of Ar! Zed wanted Aruk to become a metropolis, a thriving city of thousands upon thousands, only to feed his lust for power and rule over the land. There was very little farmland, yet he wanted to stretch it out into the wastelands where no water and only rabid animals and abominations thrived. Not only was it outside of the protection of Ar, it was certain death to us all. And for what? So that he could proclaim himself as the greatest king that had ever lived? He would drive us all to oblivion, and slavery for his wish!  
"In devotion to the people of Aruk and obedience to Ar, I recruited spies to alert me of all of Zed's activities. It did not go unnoticed. Zed's vigilance became disturbingly militant, and my activities as High Priest were severely diminished. Ar was becoming angry at Zed's insolence, and the visions that filled my head during the waking hours disturbed me to no end. I sought counsel with the high witches of Ar for their guidance.  
"Late one evening, one of the witches eagerly insisted upon my attendance, they had received a prophecy. I rushed at their request to their room inside the temple of Ar. They were crouching around a large cauldron, the liquid inside bubbling up prophetic visions. I remember their bodies, how young and supple they looked, but their faces appeared as if they had melted like molten metal upon their skulls. It was a price to pay for eternal youth. The countenance of a woman could not withstand the power of witchcraft, but the body contained the youthful power. Tragic, but necessary.  
"The lead witch, my mother, hastily explained that the prophecy was that the unborn son of Zed would take my life.

"You will die at the hands of Zed's unborn son!" The witch exclaimed.

"He must not be born, and Ar is becoming insistent upon a sacrifice, he shall be the first of many who oppose Ar." The second witch continued in this vein of thought.

"Before I could respond to them, Zed and several of his guards rushed into the room."

"I have been told you are spying on me in all of my waking hours and moments with witchcraft and seducing my people to the worship of the demon god Ar! That you plan to undermine my authority and reduce the city of Aruk to nothing more than a few people. I will not allow this!"

"I calmly told him that Ar demands obedience to his principles, that world domination is not within Zed's grasp. Zed signaled to his armed escort and they rushed towards two of Ar's disciples with their swords drawn. Rather than succumb to a bloody death, they opted for a peaceful solution and sacrificed their lives in honor of Ar. Zed's blood rage was not quenched in that moment.

""Fanatics." Zed spat the word like a sour stone. "I'll have you put to death."

"I was taken from the room forcibly and sat in a cell waiting for the morning light. I remember seeing my witch mother leading a cow through an alley way, she held my gaze for a moment and then slipped into the darkness. It was a long night, and I do not know what occurred, only that my mother was never seen again, and Zed's Queen perished along with her child, or so I was told. I was forced by Zed to leave Aruk, to head north with nothing but a staff and the robes upon my back. In the days that followed, I was pursued by rabid creatures, narrowly escaped becoming fodder for a group of human eating cannibals, and saw many tigers wandering the sparse forested areas.

"I wandered for days until I came upon a small nomadic group of warriors. They called themselves 'Jun'. I found them to be noble, diligent, hardworking people, struggling to survive against the encroaching farmers and militant groups of Zed.

"I taught them of Ar, and they quickly became devoted to the service of Ar. I could see now that Ar was protecting these nomadic people in the desert, and the arrogance of Zed was destroying their land. In return for teaching them of Ar, they in turn taught me how to create a liquid that would make any man strong beyond his natural abilities, at the expense of becoming addicted to the liquid, which would make them desire nothing but to constantly consume it. These men became warriors and destroyers, and little desire for nothing else. They had short tempers, and lived separately from the tribe.

"After a period of 19 years living with the Juns, they felt that Zed would be best replaced by a new king and wanted to put me in control of Aruk. I insisted that only Ar deserved to be considered the ruler, but I would accept the position of High Priest of Ar in Aruk. From that moment forward, the Juns collected their forces and took control of Aruk. With great force they penetrated the city, slew the guards except for a few that escaped, and began torturing Zed. When I arrived at the temple, Zed's eyes were removed from his skull, his new found wife had been slaughtered, and his nieces and nephews were in shackles. They were about to slay all of Zed's family, but I thought that would be a terrible fate, and decided to have them live as peasants instead of the ruling class. I fought for Zed to remain alive, and they consented with much disdain, as long as they could gain control of the villages of Cor, Haduk, and Emir. During the next seven years I went with the Juns to these villages as an emissary and representative of Ar.

"The Juns spat on Zed and declared war upon all that opposed them, including the outlying farms and communities. I nodded in agreement and we declared that if ever Zed or his kind were to come into power again, the Juns would reign terror over the citizens of Aruk. I felt it was a fair trade.

"The next few years I spent proclaiming the work of Ar, and once again, the numbers of disciples grew, shaven headed disciples grew in number, several of them exhibiting their devotion by becoming eunuchs, and the witches revealed themselves again openly and practiced their dark magics. Also, due to focus on expansion within the empire from Zed, the pipes within the temple had disintegrated to broken bits. There was no water flowing from them, and I doubted we would have plumbing in the near forseeable future.

"To maintain adequate numbers of Ar worshippers without fear of famine, it was necessary to sacrifice those who would produce many children, especially those of female gender. There were not enough resources to support the Jun and Aruk dwellers alike. Ar demanded it, and so he was satisfied with the lives of the young and promiscuous. Those that had children without consent, their child was sacrificed to Ar. Those that had a woman child without consent, their child was sacrificed to Ar. It wasn't popular, but a vivid necessity that Zed had neglected. All was going well.

"I remember the day that began the magic and work of those who opposed Ar, and what ultimately rendered my servitude desolate. There had been many sacrifices that morning. Each had been accepted by the fires of Ar. The last one of the day, the most important, for Ar had demanded her, she had been hidden by her parents and we had suffered an extensive drought. This one, was to bring about the rain.

"I held the child above my head and threw her into the flames, but she struggled and slipped onto the hot entry way. As children do, she screamed and I pushed her with my staff into the flames of Ar, when a vicious eagle swooped out of the sky and stole her from the flames. I was confused for a brief moment, for Ar did not usually take them via the air, though it was not unheard of. The crowd of people who had gathered fell to their knees, except for one man. I had not seen him before. He had the stance of a sly rat, a vicious snake amongst the grass. I glanced at the bird once again, and looked back. He had vanished, and I knew he controlled the horrid raptor.

"As soon as the ceremony had ended, I quickly retreated into the depths of the temple of Ar. I needed to know who this master of the beasts was and why he was interfering with the rituals, and most importantly, could he be stopped from doing so. I spent a full hour in prayer and determined that Ar wanted his meddling to stop. As I spoke with the witches, they revealed to me a ring with an eye, known as the eye of Ar, that could look upon anything in the wearer's vicinity. I promptly gave one to a most devoted disciple and told him to find the master of the beasts. He took speed and left the temple without delay.

"I found myself unable to eat or sleep and so I resorted to staying in the witch's cauldron room, to observe and find out instantly what was happening. As the disciple traveled, searching, I saw he stumbled upon the man I had seen in the crowd during the ritual sacrifices. The man who controlled the raptor. What happened next was terrifying. He was overcome by two rabid beasts, foaming at the mouth. Lengthy snake like beasts with legs and hair. There was also a large panther, NO, it was a tiger colored to look like a panther. Here was a beast I had encountered in my lone travels in the wastes and forests, no longer carrying it's noble stripes and colors, but PAINTED to look like something it was not. BLASPHEMY! But I digress. My blood curdled within my veins, and I cried out for this so called 'master of the beasts' to be destroyed. He was no master, he was a charlatan, a thief, a two bit circus act!

"The disciple found himself cornered and then thrown into a pit with nothing to defend himself against the tiger, a young boy, and the 'escort' of the young man. This escort looked familiar, but I could not place him immediately. I was disheartened that the disciple had been outnumbered and tricked by these three, but knew his devotion to Ar would be rewarded in the afterlife.

"It was a stroke of luck that brought about what happened next. The hairy snake like creatures took the ring, the eye of Ar, and it was placed within the spoils of the charlatan. Watching, I saw that the ring was desired upon by a young boy child who proclaimed he was the son of Zed, and that I had ousted Zed and destroyed his community, and the escort, the elite guardsman of Zed, was Seth. My outrage grew, for I had saved his family, and here they were talking as if I had doomed them and imprisoned Zed and his family members.

"At this time, I ordered the promiscuous women of the temple to be sacrificed. Ar was growing increasingly angry during my devotions to him, and needed atonement from the people of Aruk. This was usually satisfied by one, sometimes two temple prostitutes, but in this case, five were demanded. Five was the sacred number of Ar, and I knew that the very existence of the people of Aruk was at stake.

"Shortly before dawn, we gathered five, one of them being a niece of Zed. I remember this woman clearly, she had striking red hair and was slightly attractive. She was also very active in her duties to Ar, often demanding to be punished for slights against Ar. She was a devoted follower of Ar, or at least I thought her to be and she gladly volunteered for the drowning ritual. I reluctantly agreed, since she had been true in her devotion, even though she was a member of Zed's family, and I had vowed to save them against the Jun's wishes.

"The women and disciples departed, I never expected to see them again, as the drowning ritual demands that the disciples give their lives as well. That evening as I peered into the cauldron through the eye of Ar, I was again thwarted by the discovery of not only Zed's young son still alive with Seth, but also the charlatan called Dar AND with them was one of the temple prostitutes. Zed's niece, Kiri. As they talked, I heard of their plan to free Zed from the temple. I left the cauldron room with the witches and began preparations.

"I was confident that their plans to infiltrate Ar's temple would be stopped by the death guards and so I proceeded to my chambers where I engaged intensely in meditation. For several hours I pleaded with Ar and reassured him that my prayers and devotion were as solid as ever and I would aright this problem of the blasphemers. Several hours into my devotions, I was rudely interrupted by the distinct sound of pipes being smashed in the hallway. I grasped my staff and caught a glimpse of a death guard destroying the old plumbing pipes. Whatever hopes of returning plumbing to the temple was now lost, they were beyond repair.

"I was about to chastise the guard for his disregard of Ar's temple, when one of the witch women ran down the hallway, and insisted that I come to Zed's chambers. What happened next has often eluded my memory and caused great pain in my chest, but for the sake of this meeting, I will remember. My attempt to reason with Zed and his followers, the bastion collective I had been following via the eye of Ar, was met with a venomous attack. We tried to defend ourselves, the witch used her magic to escape the blade of Dar but she was defeated easily. To add insult, that black tiger, bounded in to the room. I felt pity for him. He was beautiful, but the green glow in his eye reminded me that he was controlled by the charlatan and the poison in his fur. In my disgust and shock, for who would seek out to destroy an unarmed woman or paint an animal, I retreated through a passage way underneath the stairs to the innermost part of the temple.

"It was imperative that I knew what this band of thieves and blasphemers were up to, and spent the next day and night in suspense while the witch women and I consulted the eye of Ar. We thus discovered that they had expelled the beast master, citing him as a freak, and that they were planning an attack on the city of Aruk. Unfortunately, the eye was discovered and destroyed.

"I gathered the disciples of Ar and sent a small party to contact the Juns in the north for their aid. The remaining disciples, death guards and others set about preparing for an ambush. The only way into the city was across a small bridge over a river of tar. It would be simple, we would deny anyone leave of the city and all those who dwelled to assemble at the temple. Then as the party would enter, our forces would attack the party behind and in front, flanking them and capturing the key party members for sacrifice that afternoon. Our plan succeeded, but not without some losses.

"We dressed our captors in sacrificial garb and I instructed them to be led to the steps of Ar and walked up the face of the temple as the ceremony was to begin. Things were going as planned. I grabbed the woman Kiri, she did little to resist, and placed upon the altar. The knife I held was a knife fashioned after the tooth of Ar, and was used to disembowel adult sacrifices. I was transfixed by the knife, the ritual, and how elegant this was. Nothing could break this pact between Ar and his people, nothing could break the pact between Ar and myself.

"MAAX!"

"The shout was clear and strong. I thought, surely this is Ar, calling my name, declaring me as his high priest, but I was wrong. I turned and saw that damned beast master! For all these people had done to him, he was still helping them?! I was confounded, who in their right mind… I let that last thought trail off. Clearly, this man was not in his right mind and Ar demanded his death. He slaughtered nine of the twelve disciples on the top of the temple, ran his blade through the last witch woman and roared as if he was wild beast. In desperation, I held the blade to the throat of the former king Zed, and proclaimed, "Join your unborn son!" The knife of Ar cut his abdomen easily and the entrails of Zed spilled onto the stones of the temple roof. If I was to die, it would be gloriously, and for Ar. I charged Dar and felt his sword pierce my side. The pain was excruciating and I crumpled to my knees. For a few moments, I thought I would pass then and there, but as I called upon Ar, I felt a surge of strength. Once again, I stood on my feet, with knife in hand, determined to put an end to the life of the beastmaster. Just as I raised my knife, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a rabid, hairy, snake devil leap towards my face. I turned my head and felt the sharp diseased teeth bury into my neck. I grasped my neck and fell into the fires of Ar. As the flames consumed my flesh, I realized that this death was neither glorious or welcoming to Ar, and as I fell into oblivion, I cursed the name of Ar."

Azrik raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a familiar storyline, like I've heard it before…"

Maax turned away, "Take it as you will, it is my story."


End file.
